New tutorial and an awesome dinner

I have added a new tutorial - Exploding Card

 This is the exploding card I made - closed. 

And here it is opened. 

This is a card I made yesterday using the Mojo Monday sketch from a couple days ago.  Of course, mine is not exactly like the sketch :-)

The colors are Cajun Craze, Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke.  I would have never used those colors together but the Color Coach came in handy.  I do like them. 

And I added a little something inside too.

And the awesome dinner - pork chops and mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and steamed Brussels sprouts.  I modified a recipe I found on Pinterest.  I only had 2 pork chops and had actually cooked them on Sunday evening.  I purchased a grilling pack from Schwan's - 2 burgers, 2 chicken breasts and 2 boneless pork chops.  I cooked all up on Sunday evening for meals this week since it is just the two of us.  DD2 is in Belgium for a month! 

Since I just had 2 pork chops, there was plenty of gravy left over.   We will have grilled chicken breasts later this week and I will simmer them in the mushroom gravy.  Maybe serve over noodles or make drop dumplings and cook in the gravy.  

Exploding card

I got this WOW card from my sister for my birthday. 

Cute - right?   But then you open it and 

WOW!  

So I was determined to figure it out and it's really pretty easy. Just cutting and scoring.  

Here is mine.  I made mine square rather than the rectangle like my sister's.  I cut a couple leaves from some coordinating pieces of DSP and put them on the front.  Then had to adjust them since one kept the card from opening.  

And the inside.   I'll be posting a tutorial for these.  They really are pretty simple - and helped me use up some retired DSP.

I use the rest of that package of DSP to make a couple more exploding cards and...

A few cards and matching envelope liners.  

And a few more cards.... 

And some gingham cards......

And I think these are my favorites. Love the bright colors.  I really like a few of the sheets of DSP -but now it is all gone. No it's not !  I bought a pack when it was on the clearance rack. I have an unopened pack to use another day. 

A few less packages of DSP

I used up a couple packages of DSP.  The cards for the first package can be seen in the previous post. 
Here are some of the cards I made with the second package that I finished off.

Island Indigo and Pool Party are a great color combination.   I used a new stamp set too - Endless Birthday Wishes.

The colors on this paper are so vivid - Island Indigo, Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight and Pool Party.

And a couple more.....

I even used up the designed window sheet that came in the package of DSP.  I had to find some strategic ways to adhere the clear sheets in a way that the adhesive did not show through.  On the one card, mini glue dots are hidden by the circles. In the other, the ribbon conceals the mini glue dots. 

And another package of DSP got a dent in it. I used new stamp sets -Butterfly Basics and Wild About Flowers.
 I still have tons of DSP. I can't resist the wonderful designs.  SU retires their DSP every year so there are always lots of new designs.  I'm determined to use up some of mine before ordering any new (I did order a stack of 6 x 6 sheets)
It was a productive weekend as far as cardmaking.  I made 20 monogramed cards with lined envelopes that will be a gift to a friend and about 45 other cards 

Craft weekend

A friend suggested everyone take a little time over the July 4th holiday weekend to do some crafting.  You know me, I didn't need any more encouragement.

I made quite a few cards ( 25+) and used up some retired items so thought I would start playing with the new IN colors.  Then I noticed I had not made much with the IN colors from last year - what ????? 

That's right. I think I made one card and that was it. So I had to play with them before moving on to this year's. 

These are just plain note cards and I could easily add a little sentiment if I wanted.  Tangelo Twist, Mossy Meadow and Hello Honey.  The card on the right had Always Artichoke because I have this great supply of embossed pieces from a request to my sister. 

These are cased from the current big catalog. Hello Honey with some DSP from last year ( yes, I have several packages of DSP from last year that I had not even opened. These are sort of generic.  The For You sentiment can be used for many different occasions. 

I did make a couple with the new colors Tip Top Taupe and Watermelon Wonder   

Cards using up some leftovers

I needed more anniversary cards so pulled out some leftovers from other projects and made a small dent in my stash.

Had the Regal Rose on Chocolate Chip medallions left from some scrap booking. In my pile of DSP scraps I had the woodgrain pieces. Thankfully I has some of the retired Regal Rose card stock. I thought the little bird went with the outdoors feel of the woodgrain.  

More medallions from scrap booking combined with one of my favorite DSP designs. I believe it was called Tea Party. I used the new Tip Top Taupe ink to stamp Bliss on the medallions.  Inside I will probably write something like 'many more years of wedded bliss' 

A few cards

Yes Took a little time to make a few cards. Haven't made any for a while.

These are made with the new In Colors, Tip Top Taupe and Watetmelon Wonder. I got the idea for the card on the left from Pinterest and intended to make 2 like that but wasn't completely pleased with the heart over the bow - might try that again with a larger heart punch.  Anyway - I had everything punched and cut so put together the alternate on the left. 

And last night I worked on a punch art card. Don't want to show the whole card until I've given it to the intended recipient but here are some sneak views. 

A purple tongue ???? 

Looks like it's dancing. 

Now headed to the in-laws to celebrate Independence Day a day early.  We are all off today and it worked better to visit them today.  We are taking barbecue pulled chicken for sandwiches, slaw, baked beans, cake and Rice Krispie squares.  Happy 4th everyone!